Switzerland develops alloy rebar to reinforce bridges
Swiss researchers have developed a strengthening system to retrofit damaged bridges, combining ultra-high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete with memory steel. The latter, alloyed with manganese, silicon, and chromium, among other elements, contracts after being heated, thus prestressing concrete structures.
Researchers at Swiss construction engineering institute Empa have replaced conventional steel reinforcement with iron-based shape memory alloy (Fe-SMA) bars – a “smart” material that can remember its original shape. After installation, the bars are heated to around 200°C. As they attempt to contract but are restrained by the concrete, internal stresses develop. These internal forces can close cracks, lift deformed elements, and extend the service life of a bridge, Kallanish learns.
The Fe-SMA (iron-based shape memory alloy) bars are manufactured like normal ribbed reinforcing bars and are delivered to the construction site in a pre-stretched condition. They are then positioned and anchored in the existing reinforced concrete structure, heated, and then covered with concrete.
The materials used by the Empa team are rather expensive, the researchers note. “The system is therefore particularly suitable for heavily deformed or already damaged bridges – in other words, where conventional reinforcement methods reach their limits.”
ArcelorMittal to shut Belgium-based Tailored Blanks following consultation
The consultation procedure for the planned shutdown of ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks’ Ghent facility has concluded. Management considered alternative proposals submitted by employee representatives.
In a note obtained by Kallanish, ArcelorMittal describes the dialogue as “transparent and constructive”. The company and social partners negotiated a social plan which guarantees alternative employment within ArcelorMittal Belgium for staff wishing to stay under existing pay conditions. The plan includes a voluntary exit programme, including financial incentives.
On 20 February, 71.11% of the affected workforce voted in favour of the proposed package. The matter will now be submitted to the board of directors for a final ruling on the restructuring plan.
The Ghent facility, which employs 90 workers, has faced a sharp decline in volumes and substantially reduced margins, which have led to accumulated losses over several years. It has been directly impacted by the contraction in Europe’s automotive manufacturing sector. It produces laser-welded blanks, with engineering and manufacturing facilities worldwide.
The company previously stated it remains “the leading supplier of tailored blanks in Europe and is fully committed” to serving automotive sector customers (see Kallanish 12 January).
German annual coil contracts largely finalised
Long-term coil supply contracts in Germany have largely been closed on the upstream end, between mills on the selling side and carmakers and in-between suppliers/distributors as buyers.
Negotiations took longer than in previous years. A year ago, the first deals were closed by early December; others concluded in the course of January. This time around, no deals were reported before year-end 2025. “There were diverse reasons,” a buyer at a processor company explains. “For a long period, we had no master deal signed by mills and OEMs, plus the [targeted] price hikes did not fit the current market.”
The first signals for negotiations are traditionally given during the German sheet fairs in October, Euroblech (Hanover) or Blechexpo (Stuttgart). At Blechexpo last year, mill representatives told Kallanish they were aiming for a three-digit increase compared with the previous year’s contracts.
The was the opposite of the previous year when buyers initially demanded from mills a year-on-year discount of €100 ($117). Eventually, the agreements settled at €50-70 lower. Following the latest talks, prices were settled halfway, at an increase of between €45 and €60, mostly around €50/t, sources report.
“The mills appeared pretty coordinated with their deadlines,” a buyer at a tier supplier believes. He finds that neither side can be too happy with the outcome. The mills had their reasons for demanding a €100 hike against the background of rising costs in a market with unsatisfactory spot prices. Buyers, however, argued perspectives for demand were unclear.
Downstream, negotiations continue between the groups of buyers – the OEMs – and their tier suppliers and steel service centres.
Weak consumption limits Italian longs price increases
Italian longs steel contract prices are largely stable despite producers’ announcing increases at the start of 2026, Kallanish notes.
While certain products, including rebar, are seeing slight declines, others remain steady. Section prices are edging higher, in line with recent hikes implemented by both domestic and European mills.
Agents and distributors report that passing price rises downstream is challenging, particularly in merchant bar, where structural weakness in consumption persists.
Earlier this month, merchant bar makers sought a €50/tonne ($58.94/t) increase, though this has since been reduced to around €20/t.
Buyers had restocked before the announced increases and current consumption at higher prices remains subdued, as buyers are now being delivered material that was booked at old prices. Compared with contract levels at the beginning of the month, contracts show an increase of roughly €10-15/t on average.
Most long steel contracts continue to be agreed at €270-290/t base ex-works equivalent to €690-710/t including size extras, while mills are targeting €300/t ex-works.
Section prices in Italy are moving up by around €30/t. Sustained competition from foreign suppliers, rising energy costs and firmer scrap prices have prompted several European producers to take a stronger pricing stance. Italian first-category sections are trading at approximately €760/t delivered.
The market, however, is uncertain as several payment defaults are emerging. A distributor says maintaining stable month-on-month prices is no longer possible.
“If we try to sell at unchanged prices, we lose orders,” he comments. He adds that recent price increases are further slowing activity, leaving the market out of balance between upstream hikes and downstream price pressure.
Regarding merchant bar, he says he is refraining from new purchases. Material bought in December remains unconsumed due to weak demand, leaving inventories high.
Saarstahl renews long-term steel supply agreement with Max Bögl for turbine tower production
Germany-based long steel producer Saarstahl AG has announced that its subsidiary DWK Drahtwerk Köln GmbH (DWK) has renewed its long-term cooperation agreement with energy equipment manufacturer Max Bögl Wind AG, extending a partnership that has been in place since 2015.
The renewed agreement increases both delivery and purchasing volumes while deepening strategic collaboration between the companies as demand for wind energy infrastructure continues to grow across Europe.
Prestressing steel critical for hybrid wind turbine towers
Under the agreement, Max Bögl will continue securing long-term supplies of prestressing steel wire used in hybrid wind turbine towers. These high-strength wires are applied to concrete tower structures to generate tensile stress, improving structural stability, durability, and resistance to operational loads such as wind pressure and turbine rotation forces.
High-performance long steel products are essential components in large-scale renewable energy installations, particularly as wind projects move toward larger turbines and more demanding structural requirements.
UK steel price outlook firm as safeguard reform and CBAM reshape market
According to the latest market evaluation by UK-based steel supplier All Steels Trading Ltd., the UK steel market is entering a major structural shift as existing safeguard measures approach expiry in June 2026 and as stronger protectionist policies are under consideration.
The report warns of significant price escalation driven by the EU’s CBAM already in force, pending UK safeguard amendments and the planned introduction of a UK CBAM from January 1, 2027.
According to the report, EU and UK mills have implemented merchant bar increases of £40/mt, while hollow and structural sections have risen by £50/mt. UK safeguard quotas for the first quarter were exhausted on the opening day across many long product categories, with All Steels reporting a £300,000 duty charge.
Quotas may be halved, duties could double
Industry speculation suggests that from July 1, 2026, UK safeguard quotas could be cut by up to 50 percent, while out-of-quota duties may rise from 25 percent to 50 percent. If implemented, such measures would materially reshape supply dynamics and pricing across the UK steel market.
Rising input costs – scrap, gas and transport
Cost pressures are intensifying across raw materials and energy. Scrap prices have increased steadily, with a $30/mt rise translating into roughly £25/mt higher manufacturing costs. European gas prices remain elevated at around €31.55/MWh, while freight costs have also firmed up.
Meanwhile, supply constraints are tightening, with 7-Steel facing an outage of four to five weeks, with Tata Tubes recovering from a January shutdown, and quotas allocated for Turkey exhausted in multiple categories, limiting new arrivals. British Steel output is reported to have slipped as production is prioritized for rail and export contracts.
The report concludes that 2026 pricing will be driven more by protectionist policy than by demand fundamentals. All Steels expects total price increases of £150-£200/mt this year and has opted not to forward-sell for the third quarter amid regulatory uncertainty.
Salzgitter’s SALCOS project to receive extra funds
The German government has approved EUR322 million in additional funding for Salzgitter’s SALCOS decarbonisation project, according to a state press release.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) approved the funds following the European Commission’s authorisation under EU state aid rules earlier in February.
Salzgitter’s SALCOS – Salzgitter Low CO2 Steelmaking – strategy initially aimed to reduce CO2 emissions by over 95% by the end of 2033, replacing its existing blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace (BF-BOF) route production with direct-reduced iron fed electric-arc furnace (DRI-EAF). The DRI plant would operate on a mix of hydrogen and natural gas, neither of which are very competitive at present in Europe, due to insufficient scale and high costs.
As noted in the German government’s statement, a financing gap was identified at the time of initial state aid approval in 2022, despite the EUR1bn pledged by the German state. Salzgitter’s construction relating to the first stage of SALCOS – the 2.1 mt/y DRI plant, 1.9 mt/y EAF, and 100 MW hydrogen electrolyser – is ongoing, now supported by the additional EUR322m grant, which according to the BMWE “further secures the project’s timely implementation.”
Salzgitter’s leadership stated last year that it expected relevant green steel production to begin in the first half of 2027. The latter stages of the SALCOS project remain on hold until final investment decisions are taken – expected for 2028-2029 – which could see plans to expand the H2 electrolyzer cancelled in preference for external supply.
The German government had previously assumed that additional funding to fill the SALCOS financing gap could be allocated from other state aid initiatives and instruments due to the project’s consumption of hydrogen produced as part of the EU’s Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) framework, but such an allocation “proved unfeasible,” requiring approval for additional funds.
More information on SALCOS, and other decarbonisation projects in the global steel sector, can be found in McCloskey’s Global Green Steel Profile.
Acciaierie d’Italia restarts BF No. 2
Italian flat steel producer Acciaierie d’Italia (ADI) restarted blast furnace No. 2 at its Taranto plant on 10 February, the steelmaker’s extraordinary administration said on 21 February.
Earlier this month the company announced plans to double steel production to 4 mt/y by April 2026. The steelmaker has also scheduled maintenance on BF No. 4, which will start on 28 February and will last for 60 days.
Market sources commented that the decision to increase output is well timed for the steelmaker, as European buyers have faced higher import prices due to the introduction of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from January. In addition, import quotas are expected to fall sharply from July, making imports riskier.
As a result, more European buyers have turned to domestic suppliers, allowing domestic prices to rise despite a lack of end-user demand recovery.
In Italy, deals for domestic hot-rolled coil (HRC) have been reported at EUR660-670/t ex-works, matching prices in Northwest Europe, which before was traded at a premium. Some domestic steelmakers have also been more ambitious in their offers in southern Europe, due to the region’s traditionally greater reliance on imports, aiming to get EUR750/t delivered for May rolling HRC.
ADI is currently in the process of being sold, with Flacks Group, a United States-based investment firm focused on the turnaround of distressed businesses, discussed in the market as a likely new owner. The tender has not yet been finalised.
Author: Maria Tanatar
Thyssenkrupp to supply low-CO2 steel to BMW Group
German steelmaker Thyssenkrupp Steel will supply its bluemint recycled green steel to BMW Group for the production of selected car body parts, the producer said on 23 February.
Deliveries will start this year and will be used for the outer panels and battery housing of the BMW iX3 series. The company did not disclose the exact volumes to be supplied.
Thyssenkrupp said the material has a high proportion of recycled feedstock and achieves CO2 reduction verified by TÜV Süd compared to conventional steel. Bluemint recycled is a mass‑balanced recycled product.
Bluemint recycled has CO2 emissions of 0.75t per 1t of hot-rolled coil, achieving a 1.35t emission reduction.
To learn more about decarbonisation initiatives of Thyssenkrupp and other steelmakers globally – check Global Green Steel Profile.
The company said bluemint steel meets the standards required by the automotive industry. European carmakers have been the most active end-users to incorporate green steel. They also have been accepting higher green steel premiums as the additional charges for flat steel are easier diluted in total costs.
The automotive industry, however, has higher quality standards compared to spot buyers. And market sources expressed concerns that equipment replacement at the steel plants needed for decarbonisation or purchases from greenfield projects might make steel sales to carmakers more challenging.
European market participants are reporting green steel premiums between EUR70-100/t for workable green hot-rolled coil (HRC) spot premia, with buyers increasingly preferring electric-arc furnace (EAF) steel to mass-balanced blast-furnace material, especially on the import market.
Spain’s car sector recovers in January
The Spanish automotive industry saw production and exports recover sequentially in January, Kallanish notes, with both indicators also higher year-on-year.
“Ending the first month of the year with an upturn is positive, although we must not lose sight of Germany and France, where demand has fallen by between 10% and 17%,” says José López-Tafall, general director of the Spanish automobile association, Anfac. “We must be cautious in the coming months, because if the contraction of the two main markets for Spanish vehicles continues, this will affect the production volume of our factories.”
Spain’s January production reached 173,406 units, compared with 144,245 vehicles in the previous month. This volume was up 2.6% from January 2025.
The Iberian country’s vehicle exports rose to 146,283 units in the month, from 125,289 units in December, and were 0.8% more year-on-year. European markets had a 91.8% share in Spanish deliveries in December, down 0.4 percentage points on-year.
The main export destinations in January were Germany with 25,350 units, followed by France (22,638 units) and the UK (19,928 units), according to Anfac data.